{% include "includes/auth/janrain/signIn_traditional.html" with message='It looks like you are already verified. If you still have trouble signing in, you probably need a new confirmation link email.' %}

When Northwood Hills residents break out their finest 1920s-style clothing for a themed cocktail party Saturday night, there will likely be only one Hills resident who can actually relate to the neighborhood’s earliest days.

(Update – The cocktail party is invite only and not open to the general public)

Jim Ponce, the sharpest 92-year-old I’ve ever met (and a local legend for his walking tours of the Breakers), first visited Northwood Hills during his senior year of high school in 1936. The neighborhood — bordered by 29th Street and 39th Court and Greenwood and Windsor Avenues — was “in the woods” as he recalls.

The original vision called for grand estates on large plots, since the bulk of the city’s action was further south. The “castle” still stands at at 3509 Eastview. It’s built in the classic Mizner style, with three structures totaling more than 5,000 square feet, and a 280 square foot basement that was believed to have been a storage spot for liquor during prohibition.

Northwood Hills might not have the prestige of historic districts situated further east like Old Northwood and El Cid. But Northwood Hills provided a great service to residents in the 1920s.

The castle stands at 44 feet above sea level – the highest point in the county – and bootleggers could monitor the inlet for rum-running boats. If you wanted booze in West Palm, it likely ran through Northwood Hills.

Check out more about Northwood Hills in a Neighborhood Post story running next Thursday.